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We do a fair bit of dreaming at Off Center Harbor...

One of our dreams for the website was to create a platform on which a team of maritime experts would discuss topics of interest to us all. If those experts came from a variety of backgrounds and had different slants and opinions on things, we knew the learning curve would be dramatic. With the Guide Posts created by our team of expert Guides (Guide Posts), our dream has become a reality.

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Cambodian Canoes, Part 1: Monastic Racing Canoes: This is the first in a series of articles serving as extensions of Ken's wonderful book Classic Wooden Fishing Boats of...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #19 – Maiwar Arrives in Pago Pago: MAIWAR ARRIVES IN PAGO PAGO - SHORE TEAM UPDATE 10 from Tom "Mahuta" Robinson's Shore Team After 38 days at sea, Tom arr...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #18 – Shore Team: Samoa-bound: A NOTE FROM THE SHORE TEAM: SAMOA-BOUND from Tom "Mahuta" Robinson's Shore Team At the time of writing, Tom, in Maiwar,...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #17 – Farewell Penrhyn (Tongareva): SHORE TEAM UPDATE 8 - FAREWELL PENRHYN (TONGAREVA) from Tom "Mahuta" Robinson's Shore Team On 14 April 2023 at 2030 UCT...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #16 – The Ship Arrives – My Departure Awaits: THE SHIP ARRIVES - MY DEPARTURE AWAITS by Tom Robinson Every three months, sometimes less, sometimes more, a new day daw...

Roaming in ROAMER: A rare glimpse of the Herreshoff family’s summer cruises aboard their steam yacht ROAMER The 94-foot ROAMER was with t...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #15 – Penrhyn Life, Part 4 – The Church: PENRHYN LIFE PART 4 - THE CHURCH by Tom "Mahuta" Robinson “Here we all believe in God, that’s why everyone is...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #14 – Penrhyn Life, Part 3 – Fishing: PENRHYN LIFE PART 3 - FISHING by Tom "Mahuta" Robinson On Penrhyn Island you only put your baited hook in the water when...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #13 – Penrhyn Life, Part 2 – The Home: PENRHYN LIFE PART 2 - THE HOME by Tom "Mahuta" Robinson Before we venture into anyone else’s home, I had better quell...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #12 – Penrhyn Life, Part 1 – An Introduction: PENRHYN LIFE PART 1 - AN INTRODUCTION by Tom "Mahuta" Robinson I suppose you may be wondering, just as I did, how the pe...

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #11 – Island Happenings: ISLAND HAPPENINGS by Tom "Mahuta" Robinson It has been over three months now since I stepped ashore on Penrhyn Island, a...

Brion Toss: Once in Ten Thousand Years: Brion Toss: Once in Ten Thousand Years Note: This is a reprint of an article written by OCH Guide Karen Sullivan in June...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: The PORPOISE Story, Part One: All of Murray Peterson's designs are special as are the essays about them that his son Bill composes to honor his dad's...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #10 – Penrhyn Island – “Paradise under the Sun”: Part I Yesterday I found myself lounging under the shade of a tin and driftwood shack, a Penrhyn ‘weekender’, the st...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #9 – Peru to Penrhyn Island: A Brief Recapitulation: At the time of writing this summary, I’d been on terra firma for a week, which was almost enough time to settle into m...

The Off Center Crew

Get Ready – The 2023 Worldwide Classic Boat Show is coming! (Feb 17-26): The (all-online) 2023 Worldwide Classic Boat Show is coming February 17th-26th, and it keeps getting better and better.....

Coming Soon – New Website Features – Update #1: Here are a few things that we're working on in the development of the new website. We're paying close attention to the f...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #8 – Greetings from Tongareva: After 160 days at sea, alone, rowing across the Pacific Ocean in the boat that he designed and built for this voyage, he...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific, Update #7: The following is a letter sent by Tom Robinson's Shore Team to the followers on his website TomRobinsonBoats.com. You ca...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #5 and #6 from Tom’s Shore Team: The following is a letter sent by Tom Robinson's Shore Team to the followers on his website TomRobinsonBoats.com. You ca...

The Off Center Crew

Women of the Working Waterfront: Port Townsend: It takes only a brief stroll through a couple boat yards to feel that Port Townsend's maritime trades are different. The...

New e-Book: Classic Wooden Fishing Boats of the Vietnamese Coast: Along with the new video from Ken Preston's presentation at the 2022 Worldwide Classic Boat Show, we have a very excitin...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #4 from Tom’s Shore Team: The following is a letter sent by Tom Robinson's Shore Team to the followers on his website TomRobinsonBoats.com. You ca...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #3 from Tom’s Shore Team: The following is a letter sent by Tom Robinson's Shore Team to the followers on his website TomRobinsonBoats.com. You ca...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #2 from Tom’s Shore Team: The following is a letter sent by Tom Robinson's Shore Team to the followers on his website TomRobinsonBoats.com. You ca...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s Solo Row Across the Pacific – Update #1 from Tom’s Shore Team: The following is a letter sent by Tom Robinson's Shore Team to the followers on his website TomRobinsonBoats.com. You ca...

The Off Center Crew

Tom Robinson’s “Thank You Card” to Off Center Harbor: Among the chaos and excitement of his final hour on land, Tom had the grace and presence-of-mind to send a thank you car...

Beginning the Houseboat Design Spiral: Perhaps it's time to stop dreaming, and start living... The houseboat in the photo above has inspired me and Amy to seek...

What Puget Sound Pilots Want You to Know: What Puget Sound Pilots Want You to Know by Karen Sullivan It may sound counterintuitive, but when a big ship leaves the...

Topside Seams Show? Consider Splining: LOAFER is one of the lovely Herreshoff 12-1/2 footers (so named for their waterline length) and was built in 1936. Altho...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: SUSAN a Lovely Little Cruising Schooner: After he and his crew completed three classic Peterson-designed, coaster-type schooners (SILVER HEELS, NORTH STAR...

What About CONSUELO? by Maynard Bray & N.G. Herreshoff: Note about the following writeup: Italics indicate quotes from N.G. Herreshoff. (Plain type is mine.) This little cat ya...

Ruby Slipper, a 23′ Daysailer by Doug Hylan: Here is another 23’ foot daysailer, quite similar to my previous SELKIE, but aimed more to...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: A Proposed Pinky: The New England pinky schooner, so ubiquitous in the 19th Century, might have become extinct had it not been for...

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Celebrating 10 Years Together: Crossing the bar of our 10th anniversary has prompted us to stop and ask two questions: "What are we doing, and why are...

Enhancing a Cape Cod Marlin: The fiberglass-hulled Marlin design came about in the late 1950s when Cape Cod Shipbuilding asked Sidney Herreshoff to m...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: CURLEW, a Cowhorn: In this episode of The Murray Peterson Story, Bill Peterson tells us how his father designed the att...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: A Lick and A Promise – The Story of EASTWARD: In this fourth installment of the Murray Peterson design series, Bill Peterson recalls the creation of the 32' Friendshi...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: The JOSEPH H. STUART Story: This is the third episode of the Murray Peterson series and it's about a lovely tug-inspired power cruiser originally na...

Camp-Cruising the Maine Coast in the Caledonia Yawl HOWDY: Thanks for following along — you'll find links to a live GPS tracker and to the feed of photos/etc available to Off Ce...

That Boy Jack Sure Loves to Race: We were just trying to get the damn kids in the car for school. How were we supposed to know Jack was telling us who he...

Beauty In the Hand of the Beholder: It's all relative. A boat built with PVC pipe that may be beautiful to one person might be an eyesore to another. And th...

EVE, An Electric Launch by Doug Hylan: When it comes to beautiful, fuel-efficient boats it pays to look back to the early lobster boats that raced home to Jone...

Are You Scared of Your Boat? (Reality Check): Are you scared of your boat? After filming hundreds of boatbuilders and craftspeople over the past ten years as they bui...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: The STORMY Story: In this, the second of the Murray Peterson series, we feature a lovely little schooner named STORMY, who throughout he...

Murray Peterson’s Designs: TRUANT to EAGLE; An Awesome Conversion: Starting with a storm-beached-and-badly-damaged 31-foot Malabar Jr. sloop named TRUANT, Murray G. Peterson not only made...

The Off Center Crew

Members’ Favorites: A Holiday Playlist for 2020: We thought you might appreciate a listing of the videos that have been the "most loved" by members. The list is not crea...

My Time With BARNSWALLOW—By Roger Taylor: With this post, OffCenterHarbor begins what we hope will be a long series by Roger Taylor where he'll be describing hi...

The Off Center Crew

Announcing The Worldwide Classic Boat Show: There is an opportunity, alongside the many challenges we're all facing, to come together and strengthen the classic an...

Boat Photos from Maynard Bray, Part 4: Here is yet another sampling from the collection of 35mm negatives I donated to Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) in 2013. ...

Boat Photos from Maynard Bray, Part 3: Here is another sampling from the collection of 35mm negatives I donated to Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) in 2013. The m...

Boat Photos from Maynard Bray, Part 2: Here is a small sampling from the collection of 35mm negatives I donated to Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) in 2013. They'...

Short Ends; Long Waterlines: Ever since I saw one of Starling Burgess’s 30’ Yankee One Design (YOD) sloops, I’ve been obsessed with them. To me...

Boat Photos from Maynard Bray, Part 1: In 2013, I donated all of my black-and-white negatives (about 25,000, mostly boats) to Penobscot Marine Museum with the...

Congratulating New Zealand’s Buzzards Bay 25 JONQUIL: Off Center Harbor congratulates the New Zealand-built Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 25 JONQUIL and her skipper and crew for th...

Our Most Valuable Secret NON-Boat Gear, Part 2: The original post to this series by OCH Co-Founder Steve Stone received so many requests for "More!", that we went to th...

Starship to Oceania, by Steve Callahan: An oddball boat on a passage to paradise transforms a quest for destinations into the joy of the voyage itself. "It’s...

GRAYLING to Newfoundland, by Doug Hylan: Sometime during a sleepless February night, I started thinking about a boat trip to Newfoundland. In the past couple of...

The Off Center Crew

2019 Annual Update for Members & Friends: Off Center Members ~ As we wrap up our eighth year at Off Center Harbor, we thought you might appreciate an update on OC...

HOPEFUL OUTLOOK Gets a New Bottom: At Sam Manning’s memorial service, we learned that his and Susan’s beloved dory HOPEFUL OUTLOOK in which they rowed...

Our Most Valuable Secret NON-Boat Gear, Part 1: I'm writing notes for this post from one of our favorite islands. We're on a camp-cruise in our home waters in Maine and...

Remembering Llewellyn Howland III: It is with heavy hearts that we at OCH must report that our friend and colleague Llewellyn Howland III (Louie to all who...

Hop In and Buckle Up for the National Championships: From Jack's early days, he LOVED to race... He's always been just like that. Kind, thoughtful, and not afraid to show wh...

Elegant Details on Wooden Boats – Floorboards, Seats, and Backrests, by Maynard Bray: Small boat details, if artfully carried out, can turn a crude creation into a refined one. Easy on the eyes as well as p...

Elegant Details on Wooden Boats – Miscellaneous Elements, by Maynard Bray: Small boat details, if artfully carried out, can turn a crude creation into a refined one. Easy on the eyes as well as p...

CRADLE to GRAVE: Photos from Penobscot Marine Museum: "Cradle to Grave;" "Launched and Lost;" "Birth to Death." No matter what theme is applied to these 28 photos that Ed Cof...

Elegant Details on Wooden Boats – Oarlock Pads, by Maynard Bray: Wooden pads that hold the metal sockets for oarlocks lie in plain view along any rowboat's rail. Because they're so visi...

Bill Garden Designs from The Rudder Magazine: These four little powerboats showed up in the design section of The Rudder magazine during the 1950s when there’d be a...

Elegant Details on Wooden Boats – Breasthooks & Knees, by Maynard Bray: Small boat details like knees and breasthooks, if artfully carried out, can turn a crude creation into a refined one. Ea...

JUNE BUG, A Cat Schooner by Bill Garden: I've always wanted to build a June Bug ever since it appeared in a 1945 issue of The Rudder magazine. My dream may never...

The Off Center Crew

A Few of Our “Most Useful” Videos: After seven years, and over 500 videos released on Off Center Harbor, we hear two common descriptions of the videos: 1)...

Bill Page: Market Maker: Here’s an updated version of a piece I wrote about Bill Page back in 2014; it was first published in WoodenBoat No. 24...

The Off Center Crew

Members’ “Most Loved” Videos — A Holiday Playlist for 2018: After seven years, and over 500 videos released on Off Center Harbor, we thought you might appreciate a listing of the v...

Dreaming of a Herreshoff Golden Ball, with Wayne Roberts: Wayne Roberts built a 38-foot Herreshoff Leeboard Ketch in New Zealand in the 1980's, and then sailed that boat for seve...

A Rock And a Hard Place: Lessons Learned in Going Aground in HOI AN—a guest post by Bob Stephens: What follows was written by our friend Bob Stephens of the yacht design firm Stephens Waring of Belfast, ME. It's been p...

New Off Center Skiff for Sale: This brand new Off Center Skiff is being launched today, and then auctioned off in a sealed-bid silent auction. She look...

I Am a Luddite: Harry Bryan’s recent thoughtful essay (Am I a Luddite?) prompted many comments and more than a bit of reflection on th...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 13: Below are the latest selections from Penobscot Marine Museum's wonderful National Fisherman photo collection. There are...

Am I A Luddite?: Am I A Luddite? Some Thoughts On Where We Are And Where We’re Going On a recent trip across the country by train, I fe...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 12: Below are the latest selections from Penobscot Marine Museum's wonderful National Fisherman photo collection. There are...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 11: This batch of National Fisherman photos is mostly of boats—and some pretty interesting ones at that. This collection a...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 10: This Guide Post shows methods of harvesting fish: fin fish and shrimp with nets; oysters with tongs and dredges. These i...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 9: Here's the next batch of photos from our National Fisherman collection. Remember you can see the entire collection here....

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 8: Here is another batch from our National Fisherman collection of historic photographs. Enjoy! Kevin Johnson, Photo Archiv...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 7: Another batch from our National Fisherman collection of about 15,000 photos, all of which we've scanned and have posted...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 6: Here are more photos for you to study and enjoy. Remember to zoom in for details. Remember, too, that quality prints can...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 5: These are selections from a Penobscot Marine Museum exhibit of 2015, presented here for OCH members to view and study. ...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 4: Once hung as part of a formal exhibit, these images and captions are presented here for OCH members, thanks to our frien...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 3: What follows is a small sample from the about-to-be-released Irving Nevells photo collection of Penobscot Marine Museum...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 2: Camden Public Library, each year, displays photos from Penobscot Marine Museum's archives that show what mid-coast Maine...

Voyaging Thru Time: Photographs from Penobscot Marine Museum, Part 1: This post showcases photos from the Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) that I feel OCH members will enjoy. A large percentage...

Tapering Molded Sheerstrake Endings, Step-By-Step: Those swelled-out Herreshoff sheerstrakes, so admired, don’t come into being without a clear idea of what their final...

MAINE ON GLASS: Maritime Images of Eastern Illustrated: After time has erased coastal Maine’s old-time boats, wharves, and buildings, we turn to old photos for a glimpse of t...

Building a Chesapeake Log Canoe by John Cook: Big trees begat the dugouts used by native Americans, and the long and straight pines of the Chesapeake watershed inspir...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 10: Sailing: Our friend, Claas van der Linde, shot these photos from his NY-30 ALERA last summer as WIZARD sailed through the WoodenB...

PACIFIC and the McMenemys: Our friend, Bill Page, became so hooked on the husky fishing vessels of the West Coast that he ended up purchasing four...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 9: Completion!: The home stretch with a goal to meet. The shop like a beehive, Brion and his crew accomplished an amazing amount of work...

The Off Center Crew

A Playlist for Slowing Down: Here are a few videos, collected into a single playlist, to help in slowing the pace of life:...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 8: Cabin, Keel & Interior: Although some months have elapsed since my last Guide Post covering WIZARD, work on her has been chugging along once the...

GRAMP Heads to Mystic Seaport: What's GRAMP, and what's this trip all about? GRAMP is one of the very best of the V-bottom designs of William H. Hand,...

Cruising Downeast Maine by Rowboat: In the summer of 2014, Wes and Willy Reddick took off in Downeast Maine in their Marblehead dory, MARGOLO, using only oa...

The Off Center Crew

The Off Center Contest: WELCOME TO THE "OFF CENTER" CONTEST (a.k.a. A rallying cry to find authentic things on the edge.) Everywhere we go these...

The Off Center Crew

GUIDE TO FINDING THE WORLD’S BEST DINGHY: CLICK TO EXPLORE THE BOATS IN EACH CATEGORY! (Click on each boat name in the charts to get more details and photos) MORE...

My Favorite Dinghy – The Nutshell Pram, by Harry Bryan: Right away I must say that I don’t like designating any person or thing as “the best”. It is such a bummer for all...

My Favorite Dinghy – Fatty Knees, by Lin Pardey: “She has to be able to carry a lot of cargo, row easily and be fun to sail, but still fit under the boom of our new bo...

The Off Center Crew

Tammy Norrie Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart.The TAMMIE NORRIE by designer Iain Oughtred is an all-round useful boat, in a...

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Off Center Skiff: Click Here To Go Back To The Traditional Chart. Many aspects of the Off Center Skiff make this design a great teaching p...

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Eastport Nesting Pram: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. The Eastport Nesting Pram is a good little all-purpose dinghy that comes apa...

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Tiny Ripple Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Something Different Chart. The Tiny Ripple is basically a six-foot cedar box with enough fo...

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PT-11 – The Sailing Nesting Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. The PT-11 sailing nesting dinghy has a huge advantage over most other dinghi...

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Ladybug Wheelbarrow Boat: Click Here To Go Back To The Something Different Chart. The Ladybug Wheelbarrow Boat is an amphibious wonder that gets y...

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Sportyak 213 Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Something Different Chart. The Sportyak is car-toppable, cabin-toppable, drag-up-the-beacha...

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McIntosh Canvas Tender: Click Here To Go Back To The Something Different Chart. The McIntosh Canvas Tender is easy to build, light, portable, an...

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Oru Kayak – Beach LT: Click Here To Go Back To The Something Different Chart. The Oru Kayak is an inventive way to paddle your way through the...

The Off Center Crew

Dow Fiberglass Peapod: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartHand laid-up fiberglass, set off by teak seats and gunnels, the Dow Fibergl...

The Off Center Crew

Newman Rowing Tender 10: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartThe Newman Rowing Tender is built in Maine with wide appeal to Hinkley sail...

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Puffin Dinghy 10: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartThe Puffin Dinghy 10 is an economical fiberglass tender with looks that ten...

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Good Little Skiff: Click Here To Go Back To The Traditional Chart. Like most boats by Pete Culler, the Good Little Skiff is hefty, yet eleg...

The Off Center Crew

Trinka 10: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartThe Trinka 10 is a thoughtfully designed and well-built fiberglass dinghy t...

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Walker Bay 10 – Performance Sail Kit: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartFor those who want economy, utility, lightweight and ease of maintenance, i...

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Dyer Dhow Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartWhen it comes to fiberglass dinghies, the Dyer Dhow dinghy long ago set the...

The Off Center Crew

Fatty Knees Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartDesigned by Lyle Hess specifically for world cruisers Lin and Larry Pardey,...

The Off Center Crew

Portland Pudgy Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Fiberglass ChartThe Portland Pudgy features rigid plastic with abundant flotation and turne...

The Off Center Crew

Dulcibella Tender: Click Here To Go Back To The Traditional Chart. The Dulciabella Tender is a handsome traditional pram for rowing. The la...

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Traditional Peapod Tender: Click Here To Go Back To The Traditional Chart. The Traditional Peapod is beautiful to look at from any angle. The desig...

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Morbic 12: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. Francois Vivier has a knack for designing beautiful, seaworthy, functional b...

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Catspaw Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Traditional Chart. The Catspaw Dinghy has sophisticated construction and is based on a Herr...

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Bevin’s Skiff: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. More kids have built the Bevin's Skiff than any other boat in the past 10 ye...

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Yankee Tender: Specifications Designer WoodenBoat Length and Beam 12'4" and 4'4" Weight 120 lbs. &n...

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Wineglass Wherry: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. The Wineglass Wherry has the pedigree of designer John Lockwood, founder of...

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Beach Pea Tender: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. The Beach Pea by Doug Hylan is a lapstrake plywood-planked version of a trad...

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Penobscot 13: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. The Penobscot 13 by Arch Davis is shapely due to its five-strake sides and f...

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Echo Bay Dory Skiff: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. The Echo Bay Dory Skiff is fast under oars and very easy to build because of...

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Sherpa Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. The Sherpa dinghy's designer, John Welsford, is small boat specialist, and a...

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Nutshell Pram: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. One of our very favorites, the Nutshell Pram is hard to beat and comes in tw...

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Shellback Dinghy: Click Here To Go Back To The Plywood Chart. Putting our biases aside for a moment, if you count the Shellback Dinghies o...

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Gannon and Benjamin 10′ Tender: Click Here To Go Back To The Traditional Chart. The Gannon and Benjamin 10' Tender is an exceptionally handsome lapstrak...

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Daisy Skiff: Click Here To Go Back To The Traditional Chart. The Daisy skiff is simply constructed of cedar and oak with a pivoted ce...

Visiting Bill Garden: Bill Page recently alerted me to this video - an excerpt from "Throwbacks to a Golden Age of Northwest Boats" - that fea...

The Day That Changed Buzz’s Life: At age 14 and alone, Buzz rented a skiff in Boothbay Harbor and got his first taste of salt water. The year was 1931 and...

Fitz Henry Lane by Bill Mayher and Maynard Bray: Fitz Henry Lane, the remarkable 19th Century painter of the New England Coast, has long been a favorite of mariners, not...

CELESTE’s Arctic Voyage: Traversing the Bering Sea, Sailing to the Top of America and the Rough Autumn Passages in the Alaskan Arctic: For eight months, our cold-molded wooden cutter CELESTE remained sheltered from Bering Sea storms in the small boat...

Announcing the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné: Head over to Herreshoff.info and you’ll land in Claas van der Linde’s Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné, which is, with...

“Anchoring When Solo – The Head-to-Wind Drop Under Sail or Power”: This is an article from Good Old Boat (a magazine we like a lot), written by OCH Guide Karen Sullivan. Good Old Boat and...

The Once and Future Boat Bow, by Rob Mazza: This is an article from Good Old Boat (a magazine we like a lot), written by Rob Mazza. Good Old Boat and Rob have graci...

The Secret to Happiness, Part 2: At Off Center Harbor, we like encourage the ideas of slowing down, getting out into nature in simple boats, and making t...

The Buzzards Bay 25: An Evolution, of Sorts: Written by Bill Mayher with photographs by Benjamin Mendlowitz My on-again, off-again romance with the Buzzards Bay 25 c...

Do You Have OCHD?: Hi. My name is Steve, and I’m an addict... After 41 years of explaining away my behavior as a “love of sailing,” I...

Turning the Page – Karen and Jim’s Excellent Adventure: OCH Guide Karen Sullivan and her husband Jim Heumann have made incredible voyages aboard their Pacific Seacraft Dana 24,...

The Education of Myles Thurlow: A Proper Apprenticeship: NOTE: This article was originally published in WoodenBoat Magazine, Issue 178: May/June 2004. Photographs by Benjamin Me...

How Sailboat Rudders Evolved: Current Designs Arrived Via Varied Routes, by Rob Mazza: This is an article from Good Old Boat (a magazine we like a lot), written by Rob Mazza. Good Old Boat and Rob have graci...

The storm trysail: A faithful and forgiving foul-weather friend, by Ed Zacko: This is an article from Good Old Boat (a magazine we like a lot), written by Ed Zacko. Good Old Boat and Ed have graciou...

A Voyage Through Tasmania’s Southwest Wilderness – Part I, by Bruce Stannard: In the first of a two-part series, Australian author Bruce Stannard joins maritime historian Garry Kerr and bushman Ron...

A Voyage Through Tasmania’s Southwest Wilderness – Part II, by Bruce Stannard: Bruce Stannard concludes his voyage to Tasmania’s Southwest Wilderness with an account of his journey up the magnifice...

Building Boats, Building Kids: Bronx High Schoolers Learn Life Skills from the Keel Up, by Sara Clemence: This is an article from "Good Old Boat" (a magazine we like a lot), written by Sara Clemence about an organization we re...

Origins of the Keel/Centerboard: Why American Sailors Stuck with a Movable Appendage by Rob Mazza: This is an article from "Good Old Boat" (a magazine we like a lot), written by Rob Mazza. Good Old Boat and Rob have gra...

Simplify Sail Changes — When Solo, Planning is the Key to Smooth Sailing by Karen Sullivan: This is an article from "Good Old Boat", a magazine we like a lot, and it's written by OCH Guide Karen Sullivan. Good Ol...

“Sailing Una” – By Leney Breeden: Through her words and beautiful photographs, Leney Breeden brings us along a camp-cruising adventure aboard UNA, a Sooty...

Good Reads: “Finding Pax” by Kaci Cronkhite: The thing about wooden boats is that in order to survive, people have to love them; and for people to love them, they ha...

Havilah Hawkins

Why This Skiff?: Note: The new skiff that we're building in Brooklin this summer with local kids was designed by Havilah Hawkins. In a wo...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 10 — Windshield, Trunk Cabin & Side Deck: It’s been a great spring on the BONNY B. My dad left for Maine in March, so I was back to single-handing, with...

The Off Center Crew

Insider’s Guide to the 2016 WoodenBoat Show: THE INSIDER'S GUIDE, by OffCenterHarbor.com For Members and Friends of OffCenterHarbor.com Feel free to pass a link to i...

Schooner BOWDOIN Re-Topping: Some Intriguing Details: The photo above was taken shortly after BOWDOIN's June relaunching, after a winter in Lyman-Morse's shop being re...

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2016 Annual Update — Passing Like a Dream: Dear Off Center Members & Friends ~ Members often ask us if OCH is growing. In response, we’re glad to report that...

Key Events in the Long Life of the Schooner MARTHA: The following key events came from Doug Cole’s comprehensive article published in WoodenBoat #184 which have been upd...

“Passage to Haiti” – Part 2, The Village of Île-à-Vache: In Part 2, Nat arrives in Haiti where he delivers a boatload of supplies to a local orphanage and shows us the Haitian...

“Passage to Haiti” – Part 1, The Voyage, by Nat Benjamin: This is about sailing and giving, both of which OCH Guide, Nat Benjamin, excels at. In CHARLOTTE, a wooden schooner that...

Kayak with a Water-Bed-Hammock in the Cuddle Corner: Seriously, this is what the FOX is like in real life......

The Off Center Crew

Houseboat Design Contest – The Grand Prize Winners: Three Grand Prize Winners We are pleased to announce the award winners of the world's first Houseboat Design Contest. We...

The Off Center Crew

Houseboat Design Contest – Honorable Mentions: We are pleased to announce the Houseboat Design Contest's Honorable Mention Designs: Honorable Mentions Best Painted Dre...

The Off Center Crew

Houseboat Design Contest — Off Center Awards: We are pleased to announce the "Off Center" Awards for the world's very first Houseboat Design Contest! Thanks to everyo...

The Off Center Crew

Houseboat Design Contest — Other Good Ideas: We are pleased to announce the results to our houseboat design contest. Our thanks to everyone who entered and have revi...

Charter VELA in Maine This Summer: We just learned of a sailing opportunity that's so rare and unique, we wanted to pass it along to OCH members... The 50-...

The Off Center Crew

Houseboat Design Contest – Semi-Finalists: Below are the semi-finalists from our houseboat design contest, which has concluded with the grand prize winners, "off c...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard – Winter 2016: It has been a while since my last walkabout, so I thought it was time to get everyone back through the doors of the Broo...

My Houseboat Dream, by Eric Blake: Here's the "Why?" behind my own houseboat design...

A Sneak Peek Into the World’s First Houseboat Design Contest: Enjoy a sneak peek at a few of the entries of the design contest...

An OCH-Style Community Boathouse by Dick Wagner: Dick Wagner shares the story of The CWB's first community boathouse...

Peter Chase: Boatbuilder and Friend: Bill Mayher shares a few of his own memories of Peter Chase in this written portrait...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 9 — Skylight, Floors, Bulkhead Repair: Walt Ansel shares the progress of BONNY BRIDE's ongoing restoration...

Revisiting “Between Wind and Water” by Gerald Warner Brace: For all of us who love tales about the way things used to be along the coast, here is a book for you...

A Stitch-and-Glue Teardrop Trailer: Be inspired by this lightweight teardrop trailer design...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 7: The Deck: The restoration of WIZARD continues with a new deck...

Chopping Dugouts in Japan; a post by Douglas Brooks: I recently received two videos from my contacts in Japan that show dugout canoe construction. The first video is of a du...

The ‘How, Why & Where’ of the Stone Houseboat: I have been thinking on how to creat a simple life afloat...

The Off Center Crew

The Houseboat Design Contest: The Houseboat Design Contest has arrived!...

Dreaming of a Houseboat and a Simple Life: I've been dreaming of a houseboat, and all this dreaming is keeping me awake at night. I must have sketched this dream a...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 6: The Circumnavigation: Restoration work slowed during the summer, but not before the teak deck was laid. I'll cover that and more later as the...

Ask Her to Dance – The Music & Soul of Off Center Harbor: We get so many compliments about the music on OCH videos, I thought I'd take you behind-the-scenes and share a song and...

The Albury Runabout: In the not very distant past, the subsistence farming and fishing economy of the Bahamas employed large numbers of saili...

Chesapeake Crabbing Skiff, by Doug Hylan: Some years ago, I was asked to draw a small version of the traditional skiff once commonly used by Chesapeake Bay crab f...

Delivering a Leaker in the “Tin Pump” Era; A Tale From a 1927 Motorboat magazine.: My doctor said I must get out and rough it a bit if I wanted to be a real man. “Get yourself a motor boat, he said, ca...

1,200 Miles in Eight Days – Seeing the Intracoastal Waterway by Outboard: Following is the article I wrote for the magazine Motorboating & Sailing back in 1996 after Ben Mendlowitz and I bro...

Twenty-two-foot Cruising Catboat, Beautifully Depicted: Hand drafting, made obsolete by CAD programs and computers, was once an art form, and yacht designer Fred Goeller's fine...

Building and Launching JIMMY D, a 32′ Cornish Gig from the “Champlain Longboats” Program: This past May (2015) saw one of my favorite Spring rituals repeated for the 16th time: the celebration and launching of...

Passage to the Aleutians; a Voyage Along the Alaskan Coast: Last year I wrote an Off Center Guide Post about my inspiration and goals to sail to the Arctic and, ice permitting, pot...

Insider’s Guide to the 2015 WoodenBoat Show, by OffCenterHarbor.com: THE INSIDER'S GUIDE, by OffCenterHarbor.com For Members and Friends of OffCenterHarbor.com Feel free to pass a link to i...

SHELDRAKE, A Charming Little Keel Sloop Designed by OCH Guide Nat Benjamin: This first message just came in from SHELDRAKES's owner and our friend Steve Corkery—a guy with loads of experience sa...

Carvel Construction; John’s Bay Boat Co. Builds a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part II: These are the latest photos from from Walt Barrows that cover this boat's completion and launching. Do you suppose he'll...

The Concordia Yawl Story; Another View by Llewellyn Howland III: The following is from a taped interview of Llewellyn Howland done by John Eide in March, 2015, for spring issue of The...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 8: A New-Old Engine: Last fall I was too absorbed in marinizing BONNY BRIDE’S rebuilt Ford diesel and trying to get its 2.5:1 Paragon gear...

Fine Boat Designs: CARINA, a Cute Ketch by Aage Nielsen: Shortly after these drawings were published in the March, 1950 issue of The Rudder, I remember watching CARINA sweep pa...

Manny Palomo and his Dad Build a Boat: When Manny Palomo sent me photos last week of the boat he and his dad are just finishing, the boat and the photos looked...

NO ORDINARY BEING: Lewellyn Howland talks about his biography of W. Starling Burgess: The Burgess name goes back many years when it comes to designing notable yachts, but we’re more familiar with W. Starl...

Fine Boat Designs – The Herreshoff Fish Class: I'm sure that N.G Herreshoff (NGH) realized he'd created something pretty special when he finished carving this half mod...

FLYING FISH Goes to Sea—a Guest Post by Jack Bassett and Carolyn Shubert: The story of building the Vertue sloop FLYING FISH is covered in WoodenBoat #230, but her cruise to Europe and the Cari...

Fine Boat Designs – GROS MORNE, A 40′ Motorsailer by Eldredge-McInnis: This handsome little motorsailer design, named for a mountain on the west coast of Labrador where she was used, shows ho...

Restoring SPARKLE: NOTE: Originally published as an article in Classic Boat magazine in March 2011, we're happy to share the writing and ph...

Fine Boat Designs – SPARKLE, A Speedy Sloop With A Whaleboat Heritage: SPARKLE was built in 1947 by aeronautical engineer Alex Irving in his back yard. Alex owned and raced her in Southern Ca...

Fine Boat Designs – LEGEND, A Straightforward Fast Cruising Sloop of 1951: Fin keels and separated rudders, short ends and flush decks are what many "normal" 50-foot racers have now, but 65 ye...

Fine Boat Designs – DIVERSION & WUNDERBAR (by Kenneth Smith & Philip Rhodes): Old issues of The Rudder magazine, stored for many years here at home, contain some unusually fine designs—ones I bel...

Carvel Construction; John’s Bay Boat Co. Builds a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part I: Some 40 years ago, Peter Spectre, then of International Marine Publishing Co. engaged me to edit Royal Lowell's manuscri...

BERET, A Low-Impact Coastal & River Cruiser by OCH Guide Doug Hylan: BERET is another in my “Hat” series – a line of powerboats that, for some unfathomable reason, are all named after...

A DAY’S WORK, Part II—an excerpt: Friendship Sloops: Hosted by OCH co-founder Maynard Bray Bill Bunting’s two books (Parts I and II) entitled A Day’s Work have intrig...

Newbert & Wallace of Thomaston, Maine, Part 2: In this post, Part 2, of this Newbert & Wallace series, we'll see how an Eastern-rigged dragger was put together of...

Tasmania & the Australian Wooden Boat Festival: The secret is out on Tasmania — this small, remote island-state of Australia just earned the #4 spot on Lonely Planet'...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard — Foam Core Hull on the Frers 74′ Sloop: With the Blake family's addition (named Asa) to the OCH "Junior Guide" list, and after a generous paternity leave from m...

Newbert & Wallace of Thomaston, Maine, Part 1: The abandoned Creighton Limekiln site in Thomaston where the St George River turns sharply west (and where Lyman-Morse...

Building a Quarter-sized Skiff; A Post by OCH Guide Harry Bryan: What a pleasant surprise to get this post from Harry! From the following, you can practice boatbuilding without needing...

Basket Case: Restoring a Watch Hill 15 at D.N. Hylan’s: This boat arrived at D.N. Hylan & Associates in December, 2011, as GERALDINE, and was completely worn out. No wond...

Educating Stella — A Father’s Wish for His Daughter: Wild islands along the Maine coast provide an almost endless trail of playgrounds for camp-cruising in small boats with...

Surgery For TODDY II by Dr. Brion Rieff: When Cy Hannon bought Atlantic Boat Co. here in Brooklin, he discovered that he'd inherited an old boat that had been ab...

An Excerpt from ‘The Dinghy Cruising Companion,’ by Roger Barnes: Here is a gem of a book that OCH Guide Iain Oughtred brought to our attention. It's a must for anyone who sails a small...

My Favorite Sailing Rigs and Why, by Iain Oughtred: Do I have a favorite rig? Well, it depends what kind of a boat are we talking about, where it’s sailed, what the prev...

Resizing a Boat Design—Some Things to Think About: It seems like every week I get a letter or an e-mail that goes something like this: “Love your HESPERUS design, but I...

A Sense of the Sacred: Redwoods, Rivers and the Pacific: Last weekend, my wife and two kids -- ages 4 and 6 -- enjoyed a spectacular couple nights camping in the redwoods along...

Three Tricks of the Trade — Some Sage Advice by OCH Guide Dick Wagner: Here are some hard-won tips that may come in handy: Linseed Oil. When I acquired my first sailboat half a century ago, I...

LinAndLarry Pardey

Our Favorite Sailing Rig: The Cutter, by Lin and Larry Pardey: For any sailing boat under 45 feet, nothing beats a properly-designed cutter rig, especially if you sail shorthanded. By...

Wooden Boats from Tasmania, Part 3: Day Tripping North, then West: Now that it’s clear how heroic the mariners with wooden boats can be in modern Tasmania, and how wild the weather can...

Wooden Boats from Tasmania, Part 2: Rescuing the 8-Meter Sailboat VARG: Mother Nature. Of course she’d take charge of my best laid plan for these OCH posts. As boaters, I know you’ll under...

IMPERFECTION AND THE WOODEN BOAT, A guest post by Larry Cheek: At every turn in the building or renovation of a wooden boat blooms a pivotal question: How good should I make it? For a...

Havilah Hawkins

My Favorite Rig and Why—The Gaff Rigged Schooner, by Havilah Hawkins: Okay, I’ll admit up front that I am a bit biased. In spite of now owning the 50’ sloop VELA, I can’t help myself....

My Favorite Rig and Why — A Fembøring Norse Square Rig, by Lance Lee: My prejudice begins when twelve of us stowed our expedition gear in a 40-foot fembøring named MUNIN in the mid-coast re...

My Favorite Rig and Why—The Unstayed Mast, by Ellen Massey Leonard: My Favorite Rig: Simple, Safe, and Unstayed © Ellen Massey Leonard, 2014, All Rights Reserved. Unfortunately, the only...

My Favorite Rig and Why — The Gaff Rig, a Guide Post by Tom Cunliffe: The following is an excerpt from Tom Cunliffe's forthcoming book The Complete Ocean Skipper, which will be published nex...

My Favorite Sailing Rig and Why, by Brion Toss: This is an entirely appropriate and reasonable question to ask a rigger. People in my trade spend a lot of time analyzin...

Three Good Books You Should Consider: Three books, two of them recent, came to my attention recently. I enjoyed them and thought that you might like them as w...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 5: Raised Panel Bulkheads: Last posting got WIZARD a new white oak keel; now, while she's still upside down, we'll get going on the raised panel b...

The Yawl Rig – My Favorite Rig and Why by Dick Wagner: The physics of sailing include the wind, the current, the underwater hull shape and the sail area. It is really a battle...

My Favorite Rig and Why—A Guide Post by Doug Hylan: As a lazy sailor, my favorite rig would be fractional sloop, sans running backstays. I have enough excitement just comin...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 4: A New Keel Timber: Just so you don't forget what it is that Brion Rieff is restoring, here are a couple of reminders of what WIZARD will l...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 7: De-greasing, New Frame Ends, Replacing Rusty Bolts: I’m back working on the BONNY BRIDE after a summer of CHARLES W. MORGAN sailing and teaching at the Woodenboat Schoo...

The Straight Truth About OCH (from our Members): "This is great stuff. You have rolled the experience of ten or twenty lifetimes into one source. Keep it up." OCH Member...

Wooden Boats from Tasmania, Part 1: G'day, mate. On the opposite side of the Pacific from Port Townsend and at the opposite side of the globe from Maine is...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 3: The Transom: A new steam-bent oak transom and keel timber have been made and installed since my last posting and you can see the majo...

Herreshoff Classic Regatta of 2014—A Report from Bryan Burdick: Even though I wasn't in Bristol this year to watch the Herreshoff Classic Regatta firsthand, hearing about the event fr...

Lodestar Books; Don’t Miss Checking It Out!: The definition of lodestar is someone or something that guides, such as a star; Polaris (the north star or pole star) is...

Belfast, Maine, and Northeast Boat Welcome Boats Built of Wood: Josh Howard of Northeast Boat has recently arranged with the town of Belfast for the exclusive use of two of its brand n...

Ginny Jones Reviews THE WHALEBOAT’s Latest Edition: Hot on the heels of the visit by the Whaleship CHARLES W MORGAN to Vineyard waters comes the publication of this fine bo...

173-Year-Old Whaleship Charles W. Morgan Comes to Vineyard Haven: Any time one of Mystic Seaport Museum’s major vessels is moved there is considerable angst in the administration and t...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 6 — Beginning to Repower: While it's premature to be messing around with engines on the BONNY BRIDE project, I went off on that tangent as I was...

Life in a Drop: Recently via social media, the World Ocean Observatory received an astonishing photograph taken of a single drop of ocea...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 2: Frames; Fastenings; Stem; Sheer Clamps—All Upside Down: At the end of Part I, we left the 44' Herreshoff Fishers Island 31 sloop WIZARD (ex-PATAPSCO II) with nearly all her new...

DIY Vise Block; A Useful Gizmo For Clamping: This DIY vise block allows holding pieces that have non-parallel faces, but is not of my own design. I am quite sure...

SELKIE—My Personal Dreamboat: A 23′ Keel-centerboard Sloop: I should say at the outset that I am a lazy sailor. Although I have the greatest admiration for the sight...

Why Attempt the Northwest Passage? One Woman’s Inspiration and Goals: I’ve been fascinated with the ocean ever since I was a toddler playing in tide pools in British Columbia. Really I w...

A Good Boat and a Great Client — The RAVEN Project: One of the joys of this trade is a working on an unusual project with a great client. The client’s qualifications are...

Mixing and Using Shellac and Bedding Compound: The use of specific types of paint, sealants, and adhesives in our shop is ever changing—based on what has worked, a...

My Thoughts on Power Tools: Last winter as we completed the planking of a 26’ lap-strake powerboat, I was offered the use of a random orbit sander...

All At Sea: Here's a brief excerpt from Karen Sullivan's book in progress, chronicling the transpacific voyage she and Jim Heumann m...

Dire Strait — An Excerpt from As Long As It’s Fun, by Herb McCormick: A noteworthy book has been released recently — As Long As It's Fun — the new biography chronicling the lives and voy...

LinAndLarry Pardey

Hatches That Are Watertight, Easy to Maintain, and Handsome: “If you didn’t want to get wet, you shouldn’t go to sea!” That’s how one owner defended the salt water that sp...

Restoring a Herreshoff Fishers Island 31, Part 1 – Reframing Upside Down: WIZARD is one of the fourteen Herreshoff Fishers Island 31 sloops (named for their waterline length; they're 44' on deck...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 5, New Floor Timbers, Frames, and a Portside Repair: Progress on the BONNY BRIDE has slowed a bit because of the looming sailing date of the CHARLES W. MORGAN. Our boss says...

A DAY’S WORK, Part II—an excerpt: Some Small Boats: Hosted by OCH co-founder Maynard Bray Bill Bunting’s two books (Parts I and II) entitled A Day’s Work have intrigu...

Havilah Hawkins

CREEK CRAWLER, A Simple Trailerable Houseboat by Havilah Hawkins: Early in the life of OffCenterHarbor we OCH Guides were asked to come up with three boats we lust after. One of the on...

A DAY’S WORK, Part II—an excerpt: River Scows: Hosted by OCH co-founder Maynard Bray Bill Bunting’s two books (Parts I and II) entitled A Day’s Work have intrigu...

A Composting Head for the Tahiti Ketch EVELYN; A Guest Post by Astra Haldeman: We have used a composting head aboard our 33 foot Tahiti Ketch for about two and a half years—it was one of the fir...

A DAY’S WORK, Part II—an excerpt: Kilnwood Schooners HEATHER BELLE and C.M. GRAY: Hosted by OCH co-founder Maynard Bray Bill Bunting’s two books (Parts I and II) entitled A Day’s Work have intrigu...

A DAY’S WORK, Part II—an excerpt: Hosted by OCH co-founder Maynard Bray Bill Bunting’s two books (Parts I and II) entitled A Day’s Work have intrigued...

Refurbishing A Mystery Peapod; A Post by Geoff Kerr: Here is a peek at what has been an entertaining project on many levels. The boat is a lovely 15’ sailing peapod of u...

Rescuing the 83-foot Motor Yacht KALMIA, Part IV (Conclusion); An Excerpt by Anne (Pete) Baker: Hosted by Maynard Bray, Co-Founder of OCH Part III of this story ended with KALMIA and the Bakers heading home after win...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 4: The Framing Party: I spent the last several weeks preparing things for a single day of team frame bending. There are several reasons why. O...

Rescuing the 83-foot Motor Yacht KALMIA, Part III; An Excerpt by Anne (Pete) Baker: Hosted by Maynard Bray, Co-Founder of OCH Again, the sunrise brought a perfect day for the beginning of a new adventure....

Rescuing the 83-foot Motor Yacht KALMIA, Part II; An Excerpt by Anne (Pete) Baker: Hosted by Maynard Bray, Co-Founder of OCH Part I of this story ended with KALMIA sinking while her new owners were away...

Sharing Custom Toolbox Ideas; A Guest Post Hosted by OffCenterHarbor: Hosted by OffCenterHarbor.com co-founder Maynard Bray This first installment of our what will be an ongoing blog on cust...

Rescuing the 83-foot Motor Yacht KALMIA; An Excerpt by Anne (Pete) Baker: Introduction by Maynard Bray, Co-Founder of OCH If you love small boats, surely you've heard about the late Robert H. Ba...

Joel White on Ordering Wood for Plank-on-Frame Boats: We lost a good man when Joel White died in 1997—and an exceptional boatbuilder. His clear thinking and writing shows h...

The Long Affair: David Bradley and his Herreshoff S-Boat MISCHIEF. A Guest Blog by Ben Bradley: Introduction by Bill Mayher, Co-Founder of OCH Dave Bradley was a hero to a lot of us here in Brooklin. A great sailor...

The Dragger ST. GEORGE: This begins a series showcasing photos from the Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) that I feel OCH members will enjoy. A larg...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 3: I spent a lot of time the last month thinking about the cockpit reframing. While the 1 x 4” flat frames may look easy...

Inadvertently Green, The Budget Cruising Dividend: This article originally appeared in the October 2011 issue of Ocean Navigator magazine. With its focus on minimalist...

A Busy Day at the Victoria Classic Boat Festival: This August I passed through Victoria, British Columbia just as the Victoria Classic Boat Festival began. How much fun...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Lance Lee: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… LORD JI...

Long Ends or Short? A Design Blog by Doug Hylan: The casual observer of workboats and yachts could be forgiven for some confusion as to why some boats have very long ove...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 2: With the new cockpit knees in place, I got into some serious butt chasing. No, not what you think. Rather it consists of...

BONNY BRIDE Progress — Restoring a Wooden Lobster Boat, Part 1: I bought the Grand Manan wooden lobster boat BONNY BRIDE that was featured in Woodenboat #206 "Save a classic." She was...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Gubby Williams: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Three B...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Harry Bryan: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… I can't...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Nat Benjamin: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Riddle...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Bill Mayher: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Between...

Good Reads, Recommendations by Maynard Bray: Common Sense of Yacht Design, by L. Francis Herreshoff Way, way more than the title implies, its two volumes cove...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Iain Oughtred: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Small B...

Good reads, recommendations by Eric Blake: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… From My...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Kaci Cronkhite: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… MOVING...

Good Reads, Recommendations by Benjamin Mendlowitz: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Close t...

Havilah Hawkins

Good Reads, Recommendations by Havilah Hawkins: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… 50 Sout...

Good Reads, Recommendations by Steve Stone: Sensible Cruising Designs, by L. Francis Herreshoff I've spent hundreds of hours in the pages of this book dreami...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Ben Fuller: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… The Ele...

Good Reads, Recommendations by Queene Foster: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Under F...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Doug Hylan: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… A DAY'S...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Brian Larkin: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… How To...

Re-skinning a Boothbay Harbor One-Design Sloop with Veneers and Epoxy, by Eric Blake: Racing these keelboats hit the Boothbay region of Maine in the early 1930’s. Many wonderful boats, all of them...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Walt Ansel: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Dang, I...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Karen Sullivan: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… When so...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Geoff Kerr: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Here ar...

Small Boat, Large Experience – by Karen Larson: (Originally published in Good Old Boat Magazine). Small Boat, Large Experience A tall-ship captain sails a petite Dana 2...

Rare Birds: Classic Boats Offshore; A Guest Blog by Ellen Massey Leonard: (Note from OCH: In a conversation about this blog, we asked Ellen a bit about her 'schmee' and the following two-paragra...

Antique Ingenuity; The Shaw & Tenney Oar Lathe: For about 150 years this oar lathe has been making long square wood round. You start with a rough-sawn shaft of square c...

Hybrid Propulsion for the 48′ Cutter LUCAYO; How Does it Compare to a Diesel Auxiliary?: Our Brooklin neighbor and boat owner (of the 48’ Roger Martin-designed/Brooklin Boat Yard-built cutter LUCAYO) Pip Wic...

Jim Payne’s Crooked Nutshell Oars: Our friend Jim Payne has one of the early "big" Nutshell Prams, the 9-footer, with a sailing rig. A few years ago he de...

Iceland and Lofoten; A Trip of a Lifetime. A Blog by Geoff Kerr of Two Daughters Boatworks: I realize OCH is a boating themed site, but bear with me…there are boats to come. Suffice it to say that last March's...

Catspaw Dinghy, A Guest Blog by Ben Emory: Sailors sometimes say that the enjoyment a boat gives her owner varies inversely with her size – the smaller the craft...

Messing About—A Guest Blog by Ellen Massey Leonard: In working on my book about my recent voyage around the world, many drafts have transformed the story from a simple trav...

My Favorite OCH Videos, by Maynard Bray: Initial Thoughts and Hopes There’s so much great boating stuff taking place these days that sharing it has more than j...

My Favorite OCH Videos, by Erik Sayce: One hundred videos and counting! As one who has recently and happily come onboard to assist in the editing and content d...

Diagnosis: Hemofungiosis; a Guest Blog by Gibby Conrad: Why is it that so many people like old things? For those with an interest in history, they are tactile links to the past...

My Favorite OCH Videos (and Why), by Video Editor Kevin Ross: When I first came on board here at OffCenterHarbor we were working hard to get enough videos completed to launch the sit...

My Favorite OCH Videos (and Why), by Co-Founder Ben Mendlowitz: When I was first approached to join this project I had visions of helping create content that would be a quantum leap fr...

My Favorite OCH Videos (and Why), by Co-Founder Eric Blake: NOTE: As we count down to the release of OCH's 100th video, the Off Center Crew is passing along our own sentimental fav...

My Favorite OCH Videos, by Bill Mayher: As we reach toward putting our 100th video on the OCH site, it's been interesting and fun to review what we have done so...

A Tale of Two Block Planes: Harry Bryan Reviews the Stanley 12-960 Low Angle Block Plane: Last December I bought a Stanley 12-960 low-angle block plane from a local hardware store. There were three choices...

Why I am a Boatbuilder (and Not a Doctor), by Harry Bryan: The purpose of this short autobiographical essay, that I wrote for a local high school job fair, is to offer encouragem...

Viva Vixen; New Life for a 15-Square Meter Sloop, Part 2: When the 15 Square Meter sloop VIXEN needed a new trunk cabin to top off her restoration, building it off-the-boat as a...

Viva Vixen; New Life for a 15-Square Meter Sloop, Part I: VIXEN was built in 1937 to a design of Knud Reimers. With an overall length of 33 feet, her needle-like hull is easily d...

What About a Sailboat’s Displacement? Doug Hylan Discusses Light and Heavy: Among the dockside pundits, the discussion of light vs. heavy displacement usually revolves around the ability of a crui...

Musings While Whalewatching at Kauai, by Peter Neill: Kauai Thoughts I recently visited Kauai, the smallest of the Hawaiian Islands, a palpable metaphor for living with and b...

Women Boatbuilders in Oregon, Tasmania, and Scotland — a Guest Blog by Anne Bray: Women have taken to building and rowing St. Ayles Skiffs. The most recent skiff launched by women builders is the pink-p...

Georgia’s Golden Isles, a Guest Blog by Anne Bryant: We've just spent a restful time sitting in one place for over a month. Historic Brunswick, Georgia, was ou...

Walkabout Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 10 – 3/24/13: The end of scallop season brings our good friend and local fisherman Cecil Holdens boat out of the water to get rerigged...

Urban Outlaw and Porsche Passion: Classic boats have been my passion for as long as I can remember. Sketching boats instead of listening to teachers kept...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Bill Thomas: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… I seem...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 9 – 2/28/13: I smile every morning when I walk through the door. I have never, in the ten years I’ve worked here, seen the shop as...

Three Cruiser Friendly Towns in a Row; Aboard MIMI ROSE with Anne Bryant: North Carolina, for us, was all about locating and enjoying its ICW stops that boast free docks and sometimes even cruis...

TUVA II, A New Concept for Cruising the Intracoastal Waterway: TUVA II is not (at least at this point) a finished design, but just a preliminary to a design that I would love t...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 8 – 2/13/13: How many clamps does it take to build a 70-foot cold-molded hull? All of them. There must be close to 300 clamps of vari...

A Sail Around the NE Atlantic, by Gubby Williams: Join OCH Guide Gubby Williams for a voyage in the Northeast Atlantic... The Boat: Boomerang is a Laurent Giles designed...

Willie Nelson, Walt Wilkins, and OCH: I saw a great video recently on the web that I thought OCH members would truly enjoy, although it doesn't have a single...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 7 — 2/1/13: The month of January was a bit of a blur for me. Lola, the newest addition in my life, has had enough of laying on the f...

How to Make a Dyneema Loop, by Claas van der Linde: Note from OCH: We were so impressed with the grommet used by Claas van der Linde in the Anchoring 3 video aboard ALERA,...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Ellen Massey Leonard: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… Note fr...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Dick Wagner: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… NOTE: O...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Brion Rieff: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… NOTE: ...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Brion Toss: NOTE: OffCenterHarbor.com asked the Guides to suggest "Three Books That Should Be In Every Boater's (or Boatbuilder's)...

Rattail Reamers You Can Make Yourself. Also, a Neat Chainsaw Sharpener—by Harry Bryan: A RATTAIL FILE MADE INTO A HANDY REAMER A rattail file is round, fairly coarse, and tapered at one end. A 3/8” rat...

Walkabout Costa Rica and Bangor, Maine: Christmas this year was a little different at my house. For the first time ever my family and I got away from it all. We...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Jane Ahlfeld: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… NOTE: O...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Ginny Jones: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… NOTE: ...

Good Reads: A Recommendation from Ed McClave: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… NOTE: ...

Good Reads: A Recommendation by Tom Cunliffe: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… NOTE: ...

Three Tricks of the Trade That I Think Others Should Know About, by Kaci Cronkhite: Managing a large event is a lot like sailing across an ocean. Both require the balancing of big bodacious dreams, piles...

Good Reads: Recommendations by Peter Neill: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library... We, the...

Good Reads: A Recommendation by Alec Brainerd: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… I am ad...

They Don’t Make Postcards for This—Aboard MIMI ROSE with Guest Blogger Anne Bryant: You can hear Norfolk, Virginia, on the VHF long before you get there. Even a day out, you hear plenty of regular announc...

LinAndLarry Pardey

Good Reads: Recommendations by Lin & Larry Pardey: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… NOTE: O...

Buckets, Bailers, and Stretchers: Buckets, bailers, stretchers: The humble stuff that generally hides beneath the boating radar until needed; then you rea...

Motor Yacht ATLANTIDE Arrives in Belfast; A Quick Look: Last week, fellow OffCenterHarbor founder Bill Mayher and I stopped by Belfast's Front Street Shipyard, having se...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 6 – 12/1/12: For those of you just tuning in to Eric Blake’s weekly walkabouts, the boats he describes being built new in Brooklin...

Havilah Hawkins

Three Tricks of the Trade, by Capt. Havilah Hawkins, Jr.: I: Know your crew members and sail to their ability. The captain is responsible for the safety and the kind of experienc...

Cruising South Aboard MIMI ROSE; A Guest Blog by Anne Bryant: Introduction from OCH headquarters: OffCenterHarbor climbs aboard the 32' cutter MIMI ROSE with Anne Bryant and C...

Notes on Boat Design, Part II—Three Basic Hull Types: HULL TYPE I Let's start with a typical sailboat type hull, with a fairly fine bow and the transom up out of the water. L...

Three Boats I Lust After and Why; A Guest Blog by Jim Giblin: The 60-foot OCEANUS that Bill Garden designed for his own use. I have lusted for this boat since I first saw her...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 5 – 11/11/12: What a beautiful fall we have had in Center Harbor! These chilly fall mornings bring with them sea smoke. The harbor is...

Tricks of the Trade; Becoming a Cool Boat Dad: The Perfect Father's Day Gift for Dads... Click here to Give a 1-Year OCH Membership to a dad you know… * * * I’m us...

Boatbuilding: Instruction in the Art of Life—A Guest Blog by Lawrence W. Cheek: I come from El Paso, a godforsaken desert city where no one thinks about boats. After misspending my first 18 years ther...

Learning from Experience: Seasickness – My Biggest Disaster and What It Taught Me: Everyone has a different theory about seasickness, but they all agree it’s a disaster. Slight nausea can be overcome w...

Giffy and Carol: A Hurricane Story from 1954: On the day Hurricane Sandy is to make landfall on the New Jersey shore, I was up at the general store in Brooklin early...

Westward Ho! Port Townsend and Beyond: On September 5th, Eric and I boarded a plane to Seattle, Washington to attend the Wooden Boat Festival and shoot a few "...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 4 – 10/22/12: One of the most frequently asked questions at the yard goes something like this: " How do you boys get those boats so...

James Wakefield Rescue Row on Lake Champlain: Saturday, Oct 13, saw a fleet of boats and a flock of high school athletes gathered at the Burlington Boat House for the...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 3 – 10/14/12: Here is a great reason why I am having so much fun with this walkabout post. Midweek I says to myself, "Hey self, why...

Learning From Experience: My Biggest Disaster and What It Taught Me, by Alec Brainerd: A few winters ago we received a call from a gentleman in Palm Beach, Florida who wanted a new Watch Hill 15 built, to sa...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 2 – 10/5/12: I can't help but feel that I threw you all off a cliff last week, freefalling into construction details of an unknown cr...

Notes on Boat Design, Part 1 — The Case for Going Slower: Off Center Harbor blogs seem like they might be a good place to try to discuss some technical issues in boat design. The...

Three Tricks of the Trade That Others Should Know About, by Peter Neill: Three tricks of the trade that have served me well: 1. Never accept a waterfront rumor as the whole truth. 2. Trust the...

Walkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, Part 1 – 9/27/12: Fall is in the air in Center Harbor and the fleet is slowly making its way into winter storage at Brooklin Boat Yard. It...

Three Tricks of the Rigging Trade: Use of Drill Taps: Rigging modern boats with metal spars entails a whole lot of drilling and tapping, usually into alumi...

Some Great Old Sailing Photos: 18-Footers Sailing in Sydney, Australia: I love looking at old photos of boats, and for you OCH members who share this passion be sure and check out the great ph...

Learning From Experience: My Biggest Disaster and What It Taught Me: The folks who run this site have asked me to write about the lesson I learned from my biggest disaster. Just by asking f...

Learning From Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What It Taught Me: With little boats you don't tend to have disasters; you have recoveries. My capsizes are too many to recall, but I’ve...

An Exotic Vacation, Only a Day’s Drive Away—or, Call Me Ishmael: One of the two daughters and I took a few days off during the last week in August. She fleeing the last gasps of the DC...

Winter Boat Cover Ideas: Now that winter is approaching for boaters living in the northern latitudes, we've begun to hear about various ways of s...

Whatever Floats: I was on vacation, suspended in the supportive water of the ocean, and thinking of what it means to float—or to displa...

Learning From Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What It Taught Me: Bill Porter changed my life. It was through a series of letters that I got to know him and take over the beloved ketch...

Walkabout in Port Townsend, Washington: I had the good fortune this spring to travel to another incredible mecca for wooden boats, Port Townsend, Washington. I...

Barefoot August: As you may know, our boating philosophy at OffCenterHarbor.com can be summarized in one word -- simplicity. L. Francis H...

LinAndLarry Pardey

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why) – The Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 25, Herreshoff 12.5 & Whio: I’ve had the good fortune to sail on dozens of different boats over the years ranging from 140 foot schooners to light...

Havilah Hawkins

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me, by Havilah Hawkins.: It’s hard to know where to start, since narrow escapes and near disasters have been a topic of discussion at the dinne...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: Professional disasters at Two Daughters Boatworks have been blessedly minor and far between, at least on the craftsmansh...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me by Jane Ahlfeld: Although it never became a disaster, I do remember a day when I pushed the limits a bit and was using a little luck to g...

The Inside Passage: Exploration of the earth is done. It's all on the map. There is no place that hasn't been sailed through, walked over, p...

Captain Bligh or Captain Pugwash?: Most of us would agree that boating is supposed to be fun and that we all want whoever comes along with us as crew to fe...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: Tossing Out the Best Laid Plans On my first and only single-handed sail from Thailand to Malaysia, I never expected to r...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): To tell you the truth, I don’t really lust after boats very much any more. So I’m going write on behalf of some othe...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: My friend John Philips and I decided to build a small inshore fishing boat in the early 1980’s. We wanted a low tech,...

A Simple Electrical System for the Herreshoff S-class Sloop Mischief: From earlier posts, you may already know that MISCHIEF is one of the Herreshoff S-class sloops and that she was recently...

Bob Douglas: Capt. Bob Douglas is an extraordinary man. Not only does he love [old] wooden boats (anything old in fact), he also love...

Why every 12-year-old needs a Boston Whaler: The iconic 13ft Boston Whaler got all kinds of kids into boats in the 60s. This is a story I wrote for Maine Boats, Home...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: I was single-handing a Phil Bolger Black Skimmer from Juneau to Seattle. The waters were deep and cold, even when I luck...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: This incident was hardly a disaster, but it certainly could have been! More of a mystery really. It happened aboard...

Punting: Some eight years ago when they were just kids, Dan and David fell for this 8' punt as soon as they saw it—newly broug...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: A small boat shop proprietor must be in charge of production as well as sales and customer relations. There is no reason...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: I sail a desk. For more than thirty years I have presided over organizations that own vessels and use them to provide tr...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: For about forty years now, I’ve been rigging. But in all that time I’ve only had one job, and that for just two days...

Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s Gannon and Benjamin (on Martha’s Vineyard) owned a 72’ yawl named ZORRA. Pu...

How Much Does My Boat Weigh? Weighing Your Boat with a Bathroom Scale: Every summer for more than 25 years I have spent a week or more teaching at the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin. I li...

Scrollwork and How to Carve It: Boats planked with wood lend themselves so beautifully to carved-in decoration that it's surprising you don't see more o...

Temple Tiny Regatta – 2012: Temple Tiny Regatta III went off last weekend with it’s usual verve, panache and éclat. But before you run off for...

BLUENOSE II and Dauphinee: Maynard’s and Bill’s Nova Scotia Adventure: VISITING the BLUENOSE II SCHOONER RESTORATION A couple of years ago Taylor Allen, the owner of Rockport Marine, o...

The Sterns of Brooklin Boat Yard: , It was this very stern that did it to me. About 16 years ago as I walked down the dock of Falmouth Harbor in Antigua,...

Help Support the Film “VANISHING SAIL”: I recently came across this worthwhile project and gave a small amount to their fundraising campaign at Kickstarter. It...

Building Before Sailing: By Jessica Kerwin Jenkins, author of Encyclopedia of the Exquisite. I'm going about it backwards, I know. Normally, you...

New Paint You Should Know About – Marshall’s Cove Marine Paint: I’ve discovered a new brand of paint called Marshall’s Cove Marine Paint. It’s oil-based and comes in a variety of...

Small Boat Dolly: Here’s an idea for moving small boats around the dooryard using a wheeled dolly—one that I bought at Home Depot for...

A Grandparent’s Pleasant Memories: I’m looking back over pictures taken last summer. The photos that catch my eye are the ones of our grandchildren and S...

Projects at Two Daughters Boatworks: Our two winter projects have been delivered and launched with general grins and giggles all around. Peeler, the 15’ ou...

Thoughts About Islands: If you assume a satellite perspective, you look down upon the earth and view an ocean world in which float islands—be...

A Sail in the Herreshoff S-boat Mischief: Luckily, I got to go for sail in the Herreshoff S-boat Mischief a week or so ago, the first boat to raise sail in Center...

Herstory Matters: the Spidsgatter Pax: Every wooden boat has a story... The main character is usually the designer or her most famous owner. From there the sto...

Installing a Teak Boat Deck on the 47′ Sloop Lark: With the deck frame and plywood subdeck nearly laid on the 47' sloop Lark, it's time to start marking out the pieces...

In My Shop: The Rambler 18 Outboard Boat: On our shop floor is a nearly completed 18’ Rambler 18 outboard boat. It represents a step that I have wanted to take...

In My Shop: A Fox, a Willow, a Phoenix, a Skerrie Skiff & a Pram: How I spent my winter vacation... This past winter I seem to have been a full-time boat shop. That’s not always the ca...

Havilah Hawkins

The Influence of Captain Douglas & My Family: When contemplating the many influences in my life, it is hard to know where to start. I could start with my father, who...

The Influence of Friends Gathering Down at the Lake: A start in small boats. I could, if I thought about it, trace my introduction to small boats back to a single person, or...

In the Two Daughters Boatworks Shop: Bare ground for Valentine’s Day is a sad, sad thing in northern Vermont. Not only is the skiing bad, but every mouse o...

The Influence of Colleen and John: My Mentors: I moved to Seattle in 1957 when I was 25 and had just graduated from Yale Architecture School. My first interest in Seat...

The Snow Row: One of the rites of early Spring in the New England boating world is the Snow Row put on by the visionaries at the Hull...

The First of Three Sailing Yawlboats Takes Shape: There were a few things responsible for getting this project underway. Two of my closest friends needed a small boat to...

The Influence of My Father: I'll have to go back to my beginnings and say my father indirectly influenced me the most. He is the one who introduced...

The Influence of a Place and Many People: Imagine me as a kid, growing up in a household where my dad was building skiffs and skipjacks in the backyard. Behind ou...

Small Boats, High Calling. The Influence of Steve Corkery.: I met Steve Corkery at Coecles Harbor Marina and Boatyard on Shelter Island, New York. He was always there walking the d...

The Influence of the Outward Bound School: I didn’t grow up boating. We lived about 90 minutes inland in North Carolina, and my folks were landlubbers from West...

The Influence of a Boat and Ben: His name was Ben Massey, and he dates from my childhood. African-American, he worked for my grandfather – as driver, j...

The Influence of Plato in Foulweather Gear: It blows hard in April at Aberdovey on the coast of Wales... Stan Hugill, last chantyman of the British Empire, was the...

How to Install A Teak Boat Deck: Laying It Out and Laying It Down: Here we are at the stern of a 26' center-console jetdrive launch that's under construction at Brooklin Boat Yard. The...

The “Radical” Skeg: Eric Blake and Steve Stone stopped by Friday afternoon to check out a 30' oak keel we're getting ready to install. I'll...

My Winter Boatbuilding Projects: It's the beginning of March and spring is on its way! The view from the design office at the Brooklin Boat Yard is inspi...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): The Heart-Breaker, The Back-Breaker, and the Bank-Breaker Before placing three boats before a host of discerning...

The Influence of Uncle Bill Barker: William H. Barker, thanks for my life with boats... When asked to give some thought to someone who was a big influence o...

The Influence of Joel White: "Whether it was counsel and encouragement with a construction or design problem, or going for an afternoon sail, you wer...

The Positive Influence of Clients from Hell: “If I have seen further than others, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton Rigging i...

Why Choose A Traditionally Built Boat?: The easy answer: So that when you wake up in the morning, sun streaming through a port light, you can admire the beautif...

Building Wooden Boat Steering Wheels at Brooklin Boatyard: The steering wheels that come from most boats at the Brooklin Boat Yard are some of the coolest I’ve seen up close. My...

Cooking At Sea: A good sea cook is worth a price beyond pearls. Since he or she is responsible for the care and feeding of a crew using...

The Who’s Who that Inspired Me to Boats: Was it nature, or nurture? In my case, I suspect, both. From Nature: Growing up in Oklahoma, I knew my ancestors and som...

Restoring the Herreshoff S-Boat Mischief, 2nd Episode: This is the second episode of the Herreshoff S-boat Mischief’s restoration at Brooklin Boat Yard. Mischief had to be r...

Restoring an Old Iceboat: I freely admit, I am drawn to old stuff. To me it is the way that it brings people together in modern times, to tell sto...

The Soul Behind Our Videos: If you've had a warm feeling when you've watched some of our videos -- maybe even a feeling that we've hidden a bit of s...

Peening Rivets Faster: Long-lasting copper rivets can't be beat for fastening planks to frames. Here's a faster and easier way of peening rivet...

Restoring the Herreshoff S-boat Mischief: Brooklin Boat Yard began this Herreshoff S-boat restoration on speculation as a fill-in during slack periods. So it went...

Three Boats I Lust After (and Why), by Nat Benjamin: This question should really be directed at amateurs, not “experts.” The problem with experts, professionals or whate...

Three Boats I Lust After (and Why), by Peter Neill: To know the boat is to see into and beyond the boat herself. My three examples are real to me as much as metaphors; they...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): I must protest. I have spent some time thinking about the title of this submission and feel that it has been my good f...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): Life as a boatbuilder satisfies many nautical longings. I get to keep track of the world of boats through shows, event...

Painting a Beetle Cat Sailboat on the Beach: Here's another example of no-fuss maintenance in painting a Beetle Cat sailboat. (You can see the first example by viewi...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): When I find myself at leisure to enjoy what I call “recreational thinking” I often contemplate boats. I toy with dif...

Building Boat Interiors Upside Down: Brion Rieff's ingenuity blows me away. Brion is a neighbor and one of our OffCenterHarbor.com Guides. He's always trying...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): I would have to say I don’t really lust after boats. If I were to apply the word lust to boating it would be in relati...

Havilah Hawkins

Three Boats I Lust After (and Why), by Havilah Hawkins: A Creek Crawler I lust after a creek crawler, a powerboat that might resemble a small canal boat with a caboose recessed...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): Perhaps it’s my age, or perhaps I am suffering from adult-onset Asperger’s Syndrome, but I can’t say that there ar...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): After 35 years of using a great variety of boats I’ve come to value their utility as much as their aesthetics. I feel...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): The first of my favorite boats is the 11 foot sailing tender just being finished off at Gannon & Benjamin, here in V...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): Probably the hardest thing to do is to pick only three of my favorite boats, so to make it easier, I’ve omitted the bo...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): Boat #1: Holger Danske “Lusting” is not a big enough word for it; sometimes I hear this boat calling… Holger Dan...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): As lust remains the first of the Seven Deadly Sins, an obsession from 1947 became enduring lust. My biases: traditional,...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): I’m lucky. Boat lust led to some amazing adventures with nothing to hide from my mother. Naive to boats just two short...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): Perhaps it is my age, or maybe it is the fact that I spend a good deal of time taking care of boats, but generally speak...

Reframing the 1934 Sloop PORPOISE: Here are a few of the photos I grabbed last June during an OffCenterHarbor.com video shoot. We'll show you more in the v...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): A winter boat: a boat for simple, rugged exercise that’s able to live with snow and ice inside and forgive the dents o...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why) – Buzzards Bay 18, Dark Harbor 12 & Belfast Lough One Design: There are designs that simply cannot be improved upon. The Herreshoff 12 ½, the Herreshoff Fish Class, the Buzzards B...

The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why) – Rozinante, Beetle Cat and Scow Schooner: Rozinante: A slim, lightweight hull with a well-balanced ketch or yawl rig, this boat keeps on sailing in the lightest...

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